2010 Texas Ranger Large Sunfish Lockback

For the past few years A.G. Russell has been putting out a special edition knife in honour of the Texas Rangers. 2010 brought the Sunfish Lockback to the table. A big honking piece of steel that could live up to the name "hard use" knife. Let's take the time to see what I think of it.

 

Materials 8/10

 

Blade: 8Cr13Mov (blade says 8Cr15Mov but I read something from someone at A.G. Russells that that was a typo)

Liners: Stainless steel

Backspring: Stainless steel

Bolsters: Stainless steel

Scales: Ebony Rucarta. (A.G. Russells version of black (linnen I think)Micarta)

Sheath: Black Leather

This knife doesn’t stand out as far as the materials go. Much in the same way of the Sowbelly slipjoint everything is excellent quality while at the same time not remarkable. It’s basically somewhat high end in a traditional styled knife (brass bolsters and liners are more common) but nothing stunning. The bladesteel though good isn’t anything that people will write home about. At the same time it’s a very serviceable steel. It’s somewhat stainless (hardly anything is completely stainless) and meant for decent edge retention and ease of sharpening. Somewhat of a compromise in most areas.

The Black Rucarta (the reason that it isn’t named Micarta is that a company owns the rights to the name Micarta) is hardwearing and nice looking. Materials are just plain good even if they’re nothing to write home about. 8/10

 

Sizes 8/10

• Handle length:  4 5/8th"
• Blade length: 3 5/16ths"
• Blade thickness: Just under 1/4" thick.
• Handle width: 1 1/2" at the thickest point
• Blade width: 1 1/2" at the Thickest point.
• Weight: Close to 10 ounces (or close to 300gramms)

Sizewise this knife is often contradicting itself. The sizes are a little bit deceptive. I suspect this is because of the width of the knife.

This knife feels very big. It looks big too. And yet at the same time the length isn’t all that much beyond that of the Sowbelly slipjoint.

VERY thick steel that because of the width of the blade doesn’t come across as thick. It is quite the hand (or pocket) filler though. Because of it’s size I personally tend to think of it more as a fixed blade than a folding knife. The fact that it carries very nicely in a sheath only adds to that feeling. When using it that feeling is once again confirmed. It’s large but in general not too large for smaller work (such as opening packages, processing food etc). I’ll give it an 8/10. I think it’s an excellent size for carry on its own if one doesn’t have to worry about people freaking out around them.

 

Build quality 10/10

Notice how tight the lines of Backspring, bolsters liners and scales fit.

 

This is the factor that A.G. Russell clearly prides himself on. And this one is no slouch in that department. My expectations for a lockback are much the same as that for a slipjoint but with the addition of no bladeplay when opened. I’ve held quite a few lockbacks throughout my knife hobby. And most have some form of bladeplay when opened. I’ve always been told that this was inherent to the lockback design and the dependency on a spring to keep the knife open. Well, this lockback is the exception. There is no bladeplay in any direction. I was somewhat surprised with that but very pleased.

The seams between bolsters, liners and spring are all very tight. Lines are visible but there seem to be no gaps. The bolsters are nicely rounded and given somewhat of a satin type finish. The Rucarta is nicely rounded and polished and shows the layers of materials that it’s made of. Like I said the lockup is excellent.

And movement of the blade when opening is smooth yet solid. The blade if well centered when closed and the A.G. Russell pin (for further explanation see also the review of the Sowbelly trapper) makes sure that the edge will never touch the backspring.

 

 

Is it perfect? Nothing ever is. In this case I could only detect one real (small) flaw. One of the pins on the scales sticks out just a little bit more than

 

 

 

 

Cutting ability 8/10

 

 

The cutting ability on this knife is a little surprising until you stop and think about it. In general knives with blades that are this thick (around 6mm) are often considered “folding pry bars”. And to make things worse most makers that work with this thick stock give their knives very obtuse edges because the knife should be suitable for “hard work” and “light abuse” and similar type slogans. As for me I’m of the opinion that a knife should cut/slice/stab etc. And that if you want a prybar….buy a prybar.

 

The thickness of the blade however seems to be no issue in this knife. It came very sharp out of the box (a little arm-hair shaving) and with a few passes over the spyderco fine rods became extremely sharp.

I’ve been using the knife exclusively for about 2 weeks. It’s gone through ty-rips, carboard boxes, tape, steak, thick rubber, a little wood, vegetables and envelopes (as you can tell I’m not much of a woodsman in my daily life) and it has very little problems in dealing with any of these.

The wide blade combined with the flat grind make the knife an excellent slicer even if it’s 6mm thick at the spine. The wide blade means that the angle is much lower on the grind and makes it go through material quite easily (in general, exceptions are things like cheese, tape and other sticky materials where the wide blade has more surface to get things stuck to). 8/10 Simply because although it's a great cutter, edge retention isn't all that amazing.

 

Comfort 9/10

In hand, fill up those big mitts of mine really nice.

 

Without a doubt this is one of the most comfortable to hold folding knives that I’ve had in my hands so far. The sheer size of it make that the knife adequately fills the hand. There are very little hot spots when putting force on the knife and the width of the handle makes it so that there’s very little to no chance of it slipping or moving around in the hand. The finish is very smooth and doesn’t abrade the skin either. Only thing that could work against it is the area that the blade folds into when it’s closed. But if we’d write it off because of that we’d have to write off all folding knives.

Carrying it in the sheath is excellent. The sheath rides fairly high up on the hip and doesn’t disturb movement because of it. The sheath is quite tight and that makes it move along with the body very well as well. There is no bounce after running or jumping.

In the pocket is a different story. The knife is bulky and heavy. There is no pocket clip

that would prevent it moving around in the pocket or bouncing up against the leg when walking fast or running. While the sheath makes it very nice to carry, forgoing the sheath and opting for pocket only carry is (in my view) a mistake.

 

I suppose you could always get it modified for a pocketclip but if we’d review all modification options as well as the knife itself this review would never get posted.

I’ll give it a 9/10 Working with it is great. Carrying in the sheath is great. Only pocket carry is lacking but the knife was clearly never meant for that. So someone looking for a pocket carry knife might want to skip this one.

 

Design 9/10

 

The design of this knife is mostly taken from a knife that was not produced in large numbers. 

The pattern (from what I understand) was called a sunfish and was somewhat similar to an Elephants Toenail. This was originally a slipjoint. (Read more about Elephants Toenails here: www.elephanttoenails.com)

A.G. took the design, and made some tweaks to it. This knife is larger than the originals, it’s also a lockback whereas the originals are slipjoints and he’s included a stop pin, a swedge and a different kind of nail nick.

The improved size certainly gives you something to hold on to. I’ve owned a Rough Rider elephants toenail and I much prefer the size of the 2010 TR. 

 

The lockback feature is also nice on a knife this size.

 

The stop pin that insures that the blade doesn’t hit the backspring is nothing short of revolutionairy in my book. Something so simple and yet so much of an improvement that I wonder why I’ve never seen them in knives by other makers.

The Swedge is mainly aestethic but does improve upon the looks of the blade.

The nailnicks are also much of an improvement. They’re sufficiently deep that they can be used as thumbgrooves. Thus making this originally two handed design a very effective one-hander.

 

I also think the knife looks great. It’s quite a handful but somehow not as bulky as (for instance) a ZT302. It’s a very unique looking (and feeling) knife. Almost traditional like but with enough tweaks that I’m sure the tactical lovers would like it as well. I’ll give it an 9/10

 

Price 10/10

Polished and well cleaned insides

The price on this knife was $89,95 shipping excluded. The Black belt sheath was included in this price. Looking at what you get for that price (a honking big folder that has a blade thickness of almost 6mm) and the level of quality that this knife is. Personally I think it's a steal. When looking over this knife the only things giving away the fact that it's priced under $200 are the bladesteel (8Cr13Mov is a low-end but still good steel) and the fact that it was prduced in China. Personally I don't care where it was produced as long as it's quality. And this, my friends, is definately quality. I don't know where you're going to find something like this for a similar price on the market. The attention to detail, the materials used (steel bolsters remember? with Rucarta(Micarta)) and the sheer size of it are going to

A view from the top. Blade thickness as compared to a couple of others

be hard to match at that price. I'll give it a 10/10. If you can find something similar against a lower price I might change my mind. But so far I've not seen anything of this quality against such prices.

 

Overall Score: 8,86

A very nice knife at a very nice price. Some might have problems with the fact that it was produced in China, but what this knife demonstrates is that China can be the new Japan as far as cutlery goes. With A.G.'s quality control, the best warrantee that I've ever seen and the price this went at this knife should be on the list of everyone that likes a fist full of knife.

The main problem is though that this knife is no longer available, the ones that were made are all sold out it seems. However there is some hope for those hoping to attain one. Mr. Russell has announced that there will be "civilian" versions of the knife coming. Possibly sometime this year. My recommendation is that if you want one, buy a sheath along with it. And if you don't like knives to be big an chunky, don't buy this one.